Whitewater: Scandal or
Witch Hunt UCSD Guardian Opinion For more than four years Whitewater has played an
important role in the Clinton Administration. Clinton's
reaction to the charges and investigation have provided
plenty of ammunition for his opponents and comedians alike.
However, with the start of his second term beginning
yesterday, I believe that it is time for this investigation
to leave the spotlight only to return when it deserves our
full attention. Right now, Whitewater only serves to detract from the
more pressing issues that our nation faces. For the past
four months, no action concerning the case has occurred. A
search on the Internet brings up hundreds of pages of
opinion and jokes, but no real news since August. It seems
to be obvious that there is a party controlling Whitewater
that does not care about the outcome as long as it hurts
Clinton and his administration. This group includes many
important members of the Republican Party. Whitewater had merely been a failed real-estate scheme
from the bad old eighties until the eyes of the news media
fell upon it during Clinton's rise during the 1992 election.
The Clintons told a little white lie and the matter was
dropped. The issue came up again in 1993 after the Clinton's
trusted friend and aide Vince Foster was found shot to death
in a Washington, D.C. park. This time both the press and the
members of Congress took an interest in the case. By 1994, Congress and others had lost faith in the
Clinton Administration's ability to handle the case and a
independent counsel was appointed. Seven months later,
Kenneth Starr was chosen to replace the previous counsel.
Starr, with the full support of the Justice Department, is
responsible for leading the attack against those involved in
the Whitewater matter. This past summer, one of the
important figures in the case, Susan McDougal, was found
guilty of embezzlement and contempt of court. A year-long investigation by a Senate committee found no
wrongdoing had been committed by the president throughout
the entire affair. The investigation continues with no end in sight. It is
hard to believe that Whitewater would remain an issue for
such a long time without someone stoking the fire and fault
lies among many &emdash; the Republicans and the Clinton
Administration. The Republicans obviously have something to gain if they
could try and pin something unethical onto President Clinton
and most likely stop at nothing to achieve it. Look at the
tremendous effort taken by members of the Republican Party
to pin the Clintons against Whitewater. In the Senate, they
placed watchdog Alfonse D'Amato to the head of the
investigation committee. D'Amato, who is considered by some
to be ethically challenged, seems to have been an odd choice
for party elite to choose unless he could be trusted to give
the Clintons and their staff the hardest time possible and
in the time of a year he has. Another excellent point to bring up is that the so-called
"independent counsel," Kenneth Starr, is in fact a
conservative Republican activist representing many clients
that support the Republican Party. Starr has retained his
tabacco industry clients and other parties that donate
heavily to the Republican Party. The rhetoric that Starr is truly free of any significant
conflict of interest seems to be dubious at best. The reason
why the last independent counsel, Robert Fiske, was
dismissed was because of a possible conflict of interest
because his firm had represented a company that had bought
Whitewater property. Starr's firm represented this company,
but Starr himself represented the company This would account as more of a conflict of interest than
Fiske's situation and .yet the Republicans find nothing
wrong with the situation. Of course considering the terrific
job Starr has done, I wouldn't be complaining either. However, credit does not belong entirely to Starr. A
considerable amount of credit must go to the Clintons whose
poor handling of the case will go down in the annals of
history. The Clintons, trying to calm down the hype that the press
had stirred up, tried to minimize the situation. Sometimes,
this attempt crossed the line of ethics laid down in law.
After Foster's death, Mrs. Clinton took it upon herself to
try and resolve the situation by holding a press conference.
This meeting did not satisfy and later created an
embarrassing situation because she made a statement that was
later proven to be false. Another ugly incident occurred when Clinton files
subpoenaed by Starr mysteriously turned up on table in the
White House. Innocent mistake or a result of malevolent
intent, it still adversely effected the public's opinion of
the Clintons, Mrs. Clinton in particular. It looks like that the Clintons have built this
tremendous hole for themselves. Several analysts believe
that most of the Clintons' trouble could have been averted
if they had simply told the truth in the first place. The
question arises, why didn't the Clintons tell the truth.
It is my belief that the Clintons tried to cover up a
situation that shouldn't have been covered up. The truth
would have been a far less painful than the pot of hot water
than they are in. The best way to find out the truth is to let Whitewater
drop into the background. Without the attention from the
press and the constant pressure from the Republican Party,
the truth would eventually come out. With the constant
attention, the Clintons will only make the truth harder to
find. Let Whitewater slip back into the stream of
consciousness, let the more pressing matters take the
attention of the matter. Whitewater should only return to
the spotlight when there is something concrete and not more
examples of political corruption.
Media Muckraking and Partisan Politics
Distory Recent Investigations
January 21, 1997